‘You’re getting a little ahead of yourself there, don’t you think?’
‘I was only kidding.’
‘Sit down,’ she said. ‘What would you like to drink?’
‘A rum and Coke, if you have it.’
‘One rum and Coke coming up,’ she said, leaving the room, and he watched her as she left. She was absolutely perfect. He sat back and grinned to himself. I am the luckiest boy in the whole wide world, he thought.
When she came back in, she was carrying his drink and a glass of wine for herself but, to his disappointment, rather than sitting next to him, she chose an armchair some distance away. He frowned and took a sip before glancing in the direction of some photographs on the mantelpiece.
‘Is that your family?’ he asked.
‘Yes, my mum and dad. And me when I was a kid. But, of course, as I told you, my parents broke up last year.’
‘Oh yeah, I remember. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happened with mine, to be honest.’ He nodded towards the newspaper. ‘I guess you read all about it?’
‘I did, yes. He seems like a bit of a shit, your father.’
‘He can be. But he’s okay most of the time.’
‘A bit like you, then,’ she said.
‘You think I’m okay most of the time?’
‘Or maybe I think you’re a bit of a shit.’
‘Ha ha,’ he said nervously, feeling a little uncomfortable with how this was going so far. He preferred it when he was more in control of the situation.
‘So I came prepared,’ he said finally.
‘Prepared for what?’
‘For … you know. For tonight. For us.’
‘That was very forward-thinking of you.’
‘Not that I think it’s just my responsibility. I’m not making decisions for you.’
She smiled. ‘You’re so Woke,’ she said.
‘Ha ha,’ he said again.
‘You seem nervous.’
‘Do I?’
‘Yes.’
‘No, not really.’
‘You seem it.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s just … is there something wrong?’ he asked. ‘You seem like you’re … I don’t know … judging me or something.’
‘And if I was, what kind of verdict would I come to, do you think?’
‘That I’m a charming, funny, good-looking boy who you want to ravage over and over until the sun comes up?’
She laughed and looked away. ‘Well, you know what they say,’ she replied. ‘Hope springs eternal.’
He stood up and made his way over to the photographs, planning on examining them for a few moments before pulling her to her feet and kissing her.
‘So what went wrong between your parents?’ he asked, looking at a picture of her when she was just a little girl, all pigtails, dimples and happy smile. ‘Or would you prefer not to talk about it?’
‘I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘My dad cheated on my mum.’
‘Fucker.’
‘Actually, that’s not quite true. He didn’t cheat on her. He just planned on doing so.’
‘Oh, well, that’s not so bad, is it? At least he thought better of it.’
‘I don’t think it was entirely his choice. The person he was seeing … well, my father was being taken advantage of.’
‘In what way?’
‘In a financial way.’
‘Bummer.’
‘Mum found out and the marriage ended, just like that. Dad said he was just going through a mid-life crisis but, you know, there was no way back for them afterwards.’
‘They didn’t go for counselling?’
‘The thing is, he wasn’t seeing a girl. He was seeing a boy.’
‘Ah. Yes, that’s hard to come back from.’
Achilles wasn’t particularly interested in Rebecca’s family dramas but figured he should pretend that he was until he got what he wanted. He continued to glance at the other photographs and saw what appeared to be a happy family gathering of Rebecca with her parents a couple of years earlier. He frowned, narrowing his eyes as he examined it more closely. There was something in the picture that was ringing a bell with him.
‘See anyone you recognize?’ asked Rebecca.
He turned to look at her, utterly confused, then looked back to the photograph, at which point the penny finally dropped.
‘Oh fuck,’ he said.
‘That’s all you have to say?’
He stared at her, then back at the picture, then back at her.
‘Your dad,’ he said.
‘My dad.’
‘Shit.’
‘You know, I actually told you the very day we met. And you didn’t even notice. It was in that coffee shop just after you bought your new trainers. I said that my father was a chiropodist and you said that a chiropodist had bought you a pair of Bang & Olufsen headphones.’
‘I did say that,’ he said, remembering the conversation.
‘And I asked you why he bought them for you, and do you remember what you said?’
Achilles looked down at the ground. ‘Because I asked him to,’ he said.
‘That’s right. So you took him for the headphones, but also for another eight grand.’
‘Yes.’
‘And then you broke up my parents’ marriage.’
‘In fairness, he contacted me. I didn’t go looking for him.’
‘But you led him on. And, as far as I understand it, you went out on … what was it, four or five dates with him? Got him all confused and excited and then told him that if he didn’t pay you off, you’d tell his wife, my mum, about what was going on.’
‘You make it sound worse than it really was,’ he protested. ‘I was just having a laugh.’
‘A laugh that earned you eight grand and cost me my family.’
‘When you put it like that,’ he admitted, ‘it doesn’t sound great. I don’t know what to say to you. I do have a reputation as a bit of an idiot.’
‘You could start by apologizing.’
‘Right. Yes. Of course. I’m very sorry.’ He looked at her, trying his best to look ashamed of himself. ‘Does this mean that we won’t be having sex tonight?’
She shook her head and turned away.
‘That’s the very least that it means,’ she said.
‘Okay,’ he said, accepting defeat. ‘I guess I should go, then.’
‘Oh no,’ she said, standing up now and moving towards the door, blocking his way. ‘It’s not going to be quite as simple as that.’
‘You want the money back?’ he asked. He thought about it. Yes, he had £35,000 hidden away at home, but £8,000 of that was a big chunk to lose. ‘It’s not like my returning the cash will sort things out between your parents.’
‘True. My mother isn’t going to forgive my father for going after a rent-boy just because the money’s put back into her account.’
‘Strictly speaking, I’m not a rent-boy,’ said Achilles. ‘I never sleep with any of the guys I meet.’
‘You just blackmail them.’